COP15 certified to British Standard for sustainable event management

BS 8901, one of a wide range of sustainability and environmental solutions from BSI, was published in 2007 in response to demand from the events industry and following discussions with London 2012. It sets out the requirements for planning and managing a sustainable event. To claim compliance with the standard an organization must define and implement its sustainability policy, monitor and evaluate the event against key performance indicators and eventually review the event, feeding conclusions back into the policy to positively affect future events. The events industry has adopted the standard enthusiastically with a great variety of organizations around the world implementing it and now seeking third-party certification.

Mike Low, Director, Standards, BSI, said: “It’s fantastic to see BS 8901 being implemented across high-profile events such as COP15. A large part of the standard is about addressing the environmental impact of an event so in this respect, it is highly appropriate that a conference on climate change is compliant. BSI continues to develop a wide programme of standards-based solutions, assisting organizations of all size and type to implement the strategy and processes necessary to help address climate change.”

Responding to wide-spread enthusiasm for BS 8901, work has now started on an international standard for event management. The proposal for the development of ISO 20121 was jointly submitted by BSI and ABNT, the Brazilian national standards body, as members of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The first meeting of the international committee responsible for the development of the standard, to be hosted in London by BSI, will be addressed by Jan-Christoph Napierski, head of Sustainability for COP15, and David Stubbs, Head of Sustainability for LOCOG 2012.

BS 8901 is part of a wide portfolio of BSI solutions designed to help organizations improve and develop their sustainable processes and products. Recent publications include PAS 2050, a carbon footprint standard which has been downloaded 17,000 and is used by organizations around the world and BS EN 16001, a certifiable European-wide energy management standard, designed to assist organizations reduce greenhouse gas emissions and make potential cost savings. BSI is now developing its own Kitemark accreditation scheme to build on implementation of BS EN 16001, which will be used by organizations to count towards the Government’s Carbon Reduction Commitment.